Rob Johnson moved the Jaguar offense down the field during a two-minute drill, hitting a few passes underneath, missing one down the sideline and watching his last pass get dropped in the end zone. The result was a field goal--progress for the second-year quarterback from El Toro High and USC. "I thought we did all right," Johnson said last Wednesday during the Jaguars' minicamp. "I'm getting a lot more comfortable with the offense, where guys are going to be.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts have surged into unfamiliar territory -- but took a well-worn path to get there. The Colts improved to 14-0 on Thursday for the first time in franchise history, and did so with yet another come-from-behind effort in the fourth quarter. Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes -- the clincher a 65-yarder to Reggie Wayne with 5:23 to play -- to lift the Colts to a 35-31 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In a game that had nine lead changes, Indianapolis overcame a deficit in the fourth quarter to win for the seventh time this season, the most by any team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The differences are apparent at first knock. The security guard for the Jacksonville Jaguars glares and asks for identification. The security guard for the Carolina Panthers smiles and asks if you want a cold drink. The differences are also apparent at introduction. Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville's coach, acknowledges that he doesn't allow his players to sit on their helmets. Or slouch in the huddle. Or show up at the stadium wearing clothes bearing a sports insignia other than a Jaguar.

The way Jack Del Rio coaches the Jacksonville Jaguars, he's almost like a kid playing the Madden video game. Just about any place on the field is four-down territory, and punt is a four-letter word. After his team lost its final three games to finish 8-8 last season -- leading to the purge of five assistant coaches -- Del Rio was asked if he was worried about his own future with the franchise. "Contrary to how it's being portrayed in the media," he said, "I don't believe in coaching scared."

New England (9-7) at Jacksonville (11-5) 9:30 a.m., Channel 2 * HEAD TO HEAD: The Patriots are 3-0 against the Jaguars, including a 26-20 victory last season and a 20-6 victory in the AFC championship game on Jan. 12, 1997. In the latter, the Jaguars outgained the Patriots, 289 yards to 234, but were victimized by four turnovers as they attempted to reach the Super Bowl in only their second season. * SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS: In a game matching banged-up teams, the Patriots are hurting more.

The Cincinnati Bungles are back. The Jacksonville Jaguars think they might be too. Mark Brunell threw for two touchdowns, and Stacey Mack ran for two Sunday to help the desperate Jaguars end a losing streak at five games with a 30-13 victory over the mistake-prone Bengals. The Jaguars (3-5) scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 28-13 lead and, unlike the last two weeks, they held onto a double-digit lead. "Finally," Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy said, as he let out a sigh.

In beginning their quest to get their grip on another Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots on Saturday wrapped their arms around another valuable prize: The Leftwich statue. The Patriots sacked Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich four times -- and corralled his backup, David Garrard, twice more -- putting a defensive stamp on their NFL-record 10th consecutive playoff victory, a 28-3 pounding of the Jaguars on a frigid night at Gillette Stadium.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts are defending Super Bowl champions, have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Peyton Manning, and -- after a 29-7 victory over Jacksonville on Monday -- are 6-0 for a third consecutive season. Still, they're playing in the shadow of the New England Patriots. That makes the Colts the Greatest Sideshow on Turf.

Meet the new Dick Vermeil, so loose, so carefree that he doesn't even plan to have a curfew for his St. Louis Rams this week as they prepare for Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. The old Vermeil, whose Philadelphia Eagles reached Super Bowl XV before losing to the Oakland Raiders, was so uptight that he did everything but tuck his players in Super Bowl week. But don't think that means Vermeil will bury his head in Super Bowl hoopla.

I do not like monsters--in movies, books, under the bed, anywhere. I like Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin. I understand the contradiction. The stories, after all, are true. When two of his players flipped a car while crossing a bridge the night before a playoff game last season, narrowly avoiding death, Coughlin fined them both $500 for being late to a meeting. As the joke goes here, had they died, the old crank would have fined their estates.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts are defending Super Bowl champions, have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Peyton Manning, and -- after a 29-7 victory over Jacksonville on Monday -- are 6-0 for a third consecutive season. Still, they're playing in the shadow of the New England Patriots. That makes the Colts the Greatest Sideshow on Turf.

While the elite of the 2006 NFL draft class were being squired around Manhattan, schmoozing with Donald Trump and staying in a posh Midtown hotel, UCLA running back Maurice Jones-Drew was elsewhere. Jones-Drew was holed up in an economy hotel in Concord, his Bay Area hometown, waiting for his name to be read. And waiting. He sat in one room with his two agents, watching the proceedings, getting increasingly angry as the day wore on.

In beginning their quest to get their grip on another Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots on Saturday wrapped their arms around another valuable prize: The Leftwich statue. The Patriots sacked Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich four times -- and corralled his backup, David Garrard, twice more -- putting a defensive stamp on their NFL-record 10th consecutive playoff victory, a 28-3 pounding of the Jaguars on a frigid night at Gillette Stadium.

The Cincinnati Bungles are back. The Jacksonville Jaguars think they might be too. Mark Brunell threw for two touchdowns, and Stacey Mack ran for two Sunday to help the desperate Jaguars end a losing streak at five games with a 30-13 victory over the mistake-prone Bengals. The Jaguars (3-5) scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 28-13 lead and, unlike the last two weeks, they held onto a double-digit lead. "Finally," Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy said, as he let out a sigh.

R. Jay Soward tried to avoid watching the NFL draft, tried to dodge the televised proceedings as if they were stalking defensive backs, tried to avoid getting caught in the emotional roller coaster, even if this was his future at stake. So he mingled among the 50 or so people who flooded the family home in Rialto instead of staring at the TV. Maybe it helped that he had an idea what would happen.

Meet the new Dick Vermeil, so loose, so carefree that he doesn't even plan to have a curfew for his St. Louis Rams this week as they prepare for Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. The old Vermeil, whose Philadelphia Eagles reached Super Bowl XV before losing to the Oakland Raiders, was so uptight that he did everything but tuck his players in Super Bowl week. But don't think that means Vermeil will bury his head in Super Bowl hoopla.

When quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the pride of Washington's Walla Walla High School, arrived at the University of Washington on a recruiting trip, he found his host for the weekend was Mark Brunell, already a quarterback at the school. Thanks, but no thanks, Bledsoe told university officials after calculating the odds. No way, figured Bledsoe, would he beat out both Brunell and the school's star quarterback, Billy Joe Hobert.

All it took was a little courage or some prescience, and a lot more luck. It might have helped if you were from Charlotte or Jacksonville. All you needed was $100,000 in August, and a bookmaker with nerves of steel and an unlimited bank account and you could have been first in line at Peter O'Malley's office with $200 million in hand to bid in the Dodger sweepstakes. And you needed the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers to play each other in the Super Bowl.

TENNESSEE vs. ST. LOUIS Sunday, 3:15 p.m., at Atlanta, TV: Ch. 7 * How they got here: A wild-card team as second-place finishers in the AFC Central, Tennessee defeated Buffalo, 22-16, in a wild-card playoff game; defeated Indianapolis, 19-16, in a divisional playoff game; defeated Jacksonville, 33-14, in the AFC championship game. The winner of the NFC West, St. Louis defeated Minnesota, 49-37, in a divisional game and defeated Tampa Bay, 11-6, in the NFC championship game.

The two biggest sports in Texas are football and spring football. High school, college and pro, football is an obsession with most of that state's sports fans. The Dallas Cowboys were long known as America's Team. Towns have closed on Friday nights as everyone hits the road with the high school team. California, Ohio and Pennsylvania have been hotbeds for the sport, but none have been hotter than Texas. Until now. America, never impressed with mediocrity, has moved on.